Third Man Records Vault #31 Subscription Box Review

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Third Man Records Vault delivers an exclusive 12″ and 7″ vinyl + a bonus item every quarter. On top of that, there a lot of other perks including live streams of events, pre-sale opportunities, shop access, and chat room access with Jack White and Third Man Employees.

My Subscription Addiction paid for this box. (Check out our review process post to learn more about how we review boxes.)

The packaging this month wasn’t as impressive as Vault #30 – no shelf box, standard LP shipping packaging, and the extras were tossed into a manilla envelope.. Not what I was expecting!

Vault package #31 features a double LP, a 7”, a DVD, a challenge coin and a collar pin, all centered around one artist: Margo Price. I had never heard of her before this package, but knowing Jack White’s excellent curating skills I knew I wouldn’t be let down.

They include an info card with backstory on all the items.

First up we have this beautifully packaged 2 LP set! The double 180-gram LP set features a performance from Margo Price and her band The Pricetags recorded live at the Hamilton in Washington, DC on November 9, 2016. The first LP is on a clear, coke-bottle green and the second an opaque white. The set is housed in a vellum optical sleeve, with standard white paper sleeves. The sound quality on this release is just gorgeous, it really feels like you’re in the venue when you’re listening to this one. The set features lots of tracks from Margo’s first album, and some classic country covers from the likes of Merle Haggard, Kris Kristofferson and more.

Next up is this vault’s 7” – a new Blue Room Session! Previous Blue Room Sessions alums are Cat Stevens and Coupler, but this is the first to be released as a vault exclusive, and it comes on clear blue vinyl. Blue Room Sessions are recorded direct-to-acetate on a 1955 Scully lathe machine. It produces its own signature sound, and while it doesn’t sound as crisp and clear as the live performance on the LP set, it’s unique sound is still something to behold. The A-side here is a brand new song, “You Told Me With Your Eyes”, and the B-side is a cover of Billy Grammer’s “Gotta Travel On”.

Next up we have a DVD of yet another live performance by Margo and her band, taken from Austin City Limits on October 3, 2016. This performance aired in early 2017 but this is the only physical release as of yet. After the set, which includes 18 tracks, a handful of which are covers, there’s an interview of Margo with Terry Lickona, producer of Austin City Limits. There are some fun songs on here (“It Ain’t Drunk Drivin’ If You’re Ridin’ A Horse” comes to mind…) and the crowd was definitely getting into it. Not sure everyone there was a Margo Price fan to begin with but she definitely put on a fantastic show and really got people moving.

The next item in the vault is this set of double skull collar pins, inspired by a tattoo Margo has on her leg. I’m not one to rock a set of these but they are really cool looking. You can’t go wrong with a couple of cow skulls to hold your collar together, right?

And finally this month we have the 2017 challenge coin! Third Man has sent out on of these every year. They are meant to mimic the 45rpm adapter you have to use to play certain 7” records.

Verdict: This quarter’s Third Man Records Vault was pretty great. At first, I was a little disappointed that the entire vault featured on one artist that I was unfamiliar with, I quickly understood why she was chosen and have really ended up enjoying each piece included this month. Check out all the past Vault releases to get a sense of what you could expect for future releases!

Andy is a professional photographer and a vinyl record collector. He loves coffee, gin, craft beer, and playing disc golf. Getting mail is one of his favorite things and he buys a new record every week but tells his wife it’s much less often.

All views in this review are the opinion of the author. My Subscription Addiction will never accept payment in exchange for a review, but will accept a box at no cost to provide honest opinions on the box. This post may contain affiliate/referral links. Read the complete My Subscription Addiction disclosure.

7 Comments

Mandi
June 19, 2017 at 10:00 pm

I have to agree with the other commenter, if you’re not a Third Man fan and don’t follow their releases this is def not the box for you. I’ve received quite a few and I always know what they’re up to in Nashville and Detroit. Margo was featured in the Anthony Bourdain third man episode and SNL but other than that I don’t think she’s recieved much mainstream press. Unless you follow Third Man or indie/roots country you won’t know who she is. This box is for fans of the label, not people who just want pretty vinyl.

Hi Mandi! While I can appreciate this box could be a great enhancement for someone who already loves Third Man, this is only my second shipment and I’m growing to love the label more with each release I receive. I’ve listened to Jack White and his side projects for years, and while not as familiar with Third Man as you are, I can assure you I love and respect their mission and I’m not just looking to scoop up pretty vinyl! Though.. the vault releases I’ve gotten so far have been just plain gorgeous. I love that you and Tony are both so passionate about the Vault releases, it just goes to show how dedicated their fan base is. Thanks for reading!

Sorry if my comment came off as snarky, that wasn’t directed at you, just people thinking of signing up. I think VNYL would be better for some people not into the label or really into Jack White. The next box is going to be focused on The White Stripes Icky Thump and you can see all of the the past boxes on the website. I noticed you asked if they were all big boxed sets, and no, they aren’t all like that, all the past vaults are listed herehttp://thirdmanstore.com/vault/vault-releases

Ive been grabbing these packages since the very beginning, and I’ll say good review, but I have a few oppositions. First of all, you can’t judge a vault package on an artist you haven’t heard. I understand you review tons of subscriptions, so if you haven’t heard of Margo Price by this point that is your fault as a person who doesn’t follow third man, since they’ve been blowing her up for a while. Second, You can’t compare vault packages to each other. They are all their own entity for certain reasons. They’re all packaged very appropriately for what they are and what they are attempting to do with each package. Good review at what it was, though. This was an incredible package that won’t soon be forgotten by those of us who collect all these Vault thingies. Love to see third man get some extended recognition and especially Margo Price! Keep up the good work, my dude!

Thanks Tony! This is only my second vault, I am fairly new to this side of the world of Third Man despite being a fan of The White Stripes / Jack White / The Raconteurs / The Dead Weather for years. I hope there’s room for me in the TMR Vault ranks! Since you’ve been into it for so long, how many of the vault packages actually have the shelf box like #30? I thought that was beautiful but also could be a challenge to figure out storage if they all came like that. Also, is it common for them to focus on one particular artist like this? Just curious! Thanks for reading